Thousands of pounds was stolen in an attack on a group of businesses by two people armed with a huge pickaxe.

Two restaurants and one takeaway were targeted in an early-morning burglary which netted burglars £11,000 in a matter of minutes.

The thieves were successful in their efforts at Pizza GoGo and Sultan Sofrasi, both in New Road, Gravesend, but failed to gain access to Sie’s Pie & Mash shop in St George’s shopping centre.

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Pizza GoGo franchise owner Ali Mushtaq, 32, was horrified when he discovered the safe containing around £8,000 had been wrenched off its screws and taken.

His next-door neighbour, Mehmet Celik, owner of the Turkish restaurant, also came into work to find his iPad, jars of staff tips totalling £400 and £2,500 in cash were gone.

CCTV footage released of the raid at Pizza GoGo shows two people, believed to be men, smashing the window of the back door to gain access at 1.53am on Tuesday of last week.

They head directly for the safe without any hesitation and, using a crow bar, attempt to pull it free. Unsuccessful, they leave for a minute and return with a huge pickaxe, which they use to wrench it out. They also took a till.

VIDEO: Pickaxe raiders target Pizza GoGo

They then leave by the door they broke, with a large cash box in tow, all within nine minutes.

The back door to Sultan Sofrasi was bashed in and the lock broken.

Further CCTV footage shows the same two figures enter, break through another internal door, and then a third door to Mr Celik’s office to steal the goods inside.

Mr Mushtaq, a father-of-two of Park Avenue, Northfleet, said: “These guys knew what they were doing with that pickaxe. They looked calm, they weren’t rushing, and they knew exactly where to go and how to best get the safe out.

“We’ve had a lot of workmen coming and going on this site for the past two years, there’s a number of people who had access who may have noticed our set-up and had knowledge of using that kind of equipment.”

As well as £3,000 of the week’s takings and the float, Mr Mushtaq also had money in the till to pay for some food deliveries and some new freezers that week.

"These guys knew what they were doing with that pickaxe" - Ali Mushtaq

The takeaway, which opened in 2014, employs five people. Mr Mushtaq said: “The staff are all downhearted and it makes you feel less safe, especially because it happened right in the town centre. It’s just made us all feel very disappointed and frustrated.”

Mr Celik said that it had made his staff, particularly the waitresses, very nervous to work late.

The 22-year-old opened the business in February after moving to Queen’s Road from north London and it had all been going well.

He said: “We wanted to get away from the area, all the traffic, and Gravesend, on the river with lots of greenery, seemed like a nice place.

“Now I feel like I can’t leave anything here safely, and I worry about my father when he comes in here to work sometimes.

“I’ve updated my CCTV and replaced the doors. I am insured, but with the initial costs of that and what was taken, all in all it’s cost me about £8,000.”

A police spokesman said: “Kent Police received a report on Tuesday, June 7, to a reported burglary at a business in New Road, Gravesend, which was believed to have happened in the early hours.

“Forensics officers attended the scene of both burglaries and the case was assigned to an officer to investigate on the day the incidents were reported.

"While every effort is made to provide regular updates to victims, it is not always possible to do so within a short amount of time if, for example, when the investigating officer is on an unsociable shift pattern.

"Most reported crimes including burglaries are allocated to a single point of contact to ensure investigations are carried out in a clear and efficient manner, and to avoid any confusion that could potentially arise by having multiple officers dealing with the same incident.

"A full investigation into both burglaries is currently ongoing and a number of lines of enquiry including forensic evidence and CCTV are being explored.

"Kent Police is dedicated to providing a visible presence across Gravesend and will continue to use innovative tools such as Predictive Policing to help tackle and prevent crime.

"Every ward in the town also has its own dedicated police community support officer (PCSO), while mobile stations continue to visit locations across Gravesend to increase opportunities for local people to discuss their concerns."

The crime was discovered when staff came into work at 9am, but the victims have expressed some disappointment in Kent Police for not acting faster.

A forensics team was sent out that morning and found some footprints at Pizza GoGo, but nothing from the Sultan Sofrasi.

Mr Celik said: “They took a quick sweep, said ‘they were wearing gloves, we’re not getting anything’ and left.”

With no more contact with either business for around 48 hours, Mr Mushtaq went back to police to complain.

He said: “I was disappointed I had to chase them. When I asked why nobody had been to see us they just said the officer in charge of the investigation was on rest.

“Surely, they should have sent somebody else? I thought police would be more concerned about three businesses being targeted and two men walking the streets with a huge pickaxe.”

Staff at the pie and mash shop agreed the police presence had not been good, and said more should be done to look after the local businesses in the town.